Pneumatic hydraulic alarm for fire-extinguishing sprinkler systems.



Nb. 651,357. Patented lune |9, |900. J. HILL & A. v. RICHARDSON.

PNEUNIATICVHYDBAULIG ALARM FOR FIBEEXTINGUISHING SPRINKLER SYSTEMS.

(Application led Mar. 19, 19070.|'

(No Model.)

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PATET EFIGE.- i

JOSEPH HILL AND AMBROSE RICHARDSON, OF` MENA'SHA, WISCONSI.

iNEUMATlC HYDRAULIC ALARIVi vFOR FIRE-EXTINGUISHINQ SPRINKLER SYSTEMS.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 651,857, dated June 19, 1900.

' Application met Merch 19, 1900. serai no. 9.169. No man.)

mal pressure has fallen below a predete1' mined amount in the pipes of the system t0 which the device is attached; and it consists of two cylinders of ldifferent diameter, lthe smaller one being above theother and opening into it, a piston-rod arranged fora recip-` rocatin g movement in bothncylinders andvproj ecting through the upper or outer end of the smaller cylinder, and pistons thereon fitted for a substantially air-tight movement, one in each cylinder, said piston-rod having `a valve upon its inner or lower end for closing the principal aperture for admitting air t0 the lower cylinder between its piston and head, a whistle arranged to be blown by the downward movement of the outer projecting end of said piston-rod, and a bell to be rung at one or more distant stations by said downward movementfof the rod in completingan electric circuit, the smaller of saidc'ylinders being charged with water under a pressure of forty pounds per square inch (more or less) from the elevated tank or iire-pump of` the sprinkler system and the larger cylinder charged with air by the air-pump under a lower pressure-say about thirty pounds--it depending upon the comparative diameters of the two cylinders and the pressure carried i by the smaller cylinder; but it must be sufficient to hold the pistons normally at the upward limit of their movement and being connected above the dry-pipe valve directly with the pipes of the sprinkler system, whereby whenever the pressure in the sprinkler system falls below a certain amount, about eighteen pounds, (more or less,) by reason of the melting out of one of the fusible plugs in the pipes of the sprinkler system or for any other cause; then the greater pressure in the' Smaller cylinder will force the pistons down andclose the valve through whichl the air is admitted to the larger cylinder, blow the whistle, and ring the bell, which alarms will continueto sound until an attendant admits a pressure of air under the lower piston by opening a by-pass valve leadingfrom the airpipe to said larger cylinder; and the object of our improvement is to make the sounding of the whistle and bell alarms a sure result of the lessening of the pressure in any one of the pipes of the sprinkler system below a predetermined amount whenever any one of the fusible plugsv of the sprinkler-pipes shall become melted out by reason of a fire or be knocked off by accident or should leakage occur in one of the pipes; and an additional object is to permit a warning of about two minutes to be given to the attendant between the time the alarm is sounded and the time that the water enters through the dry-pipe valve of the sprinkler system, so that the attendant can make an examination ofthe cause of the alarm and shut thegate-valve between the pump -and dry-pipe valve in 'case it is a false alarm, and thereby prevent the unnecessary wetting of the building or stock therein by the escape of water from the sprinklerpipes and also avoid the uncertainty of action which attends the sounding of the alarm when the electric wires heretofore used for causing an alarm to be sounded become crossed, come in contact with each other or with anything for preventing their intended action, or where the diaphragm"` in the drypipe valve becomes deranged or in a leaky condition and making the perfect action of the alarm unreliable.

The whistle should and ynaturally will be` placed within -easy hearing distance of the i person having the system in charge, so that this alarm will be sure "to be heard; but the bell or bells may be in a distant `room orbe one connected with the city fire-alarm. Our invention is shownin the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l isa general plan of a sprinkler system and illustrates the application of our invention to it, the cylinders, valves, &c.,

views.

1 1' indicate cylinders of different diameter having their smaller head integral with the smaller cylinder; 2, a removable head of the larger cylinder.

xo to the lowerl end of the larger cylinder by means of a threadupon the circumference of the upper half of itsthickness engaging a corresponding thread inthe lower end of said cylinder; 3, a boss cast upon the outer side of the head, its form being shown in Fig. 2 .in dotted lines; 4, a circular passage-way cen-V trally arranged in the head; 5, a by-pass for providing communication between the larger cylinder and the passage 4 when said pas- Vze sage is closed by a valve resting upon the head 6, a valve for closing the by-pass; 7, a piston-rod; 8 and 9, the larger and smaller pistons upon said rod; 8 and 9', compressible packing, such as leather, upon the pistons 8 2 5 and 9, respectively; l0, a liat valve for closing the passage 4; 1l, a drainage passage or cock for 4draining the space below the smaller piston of any water that may accumulate; 12, the piston-rod gland; 13, a plate secured 3.o upon the piston-rod, to which a Wire is connected and extends to one pole of an electric battery; 14, a Whistle; 15, a pipe extending from the whistle for connection with a suitable source of air or steam supply; 16, a link k connecting the piston-rod and whistle-valve' lever; 17, a plate having a wire Yconnected to it, which connects with theopposite pole of arranged in the path of the wire leading from 4o, the plate 17 to said battery; 19, a bell arranged to be acted upon by its hammer 20 by lmeans of the action of the magnet 18 upon extending fromthe plates 13 and 17 to a so urce of electricity; 23, a spring bolted upon the supporting-stand 24V and loosely to the bell-hammer arm near the hammer for holding the hammer normally out of contact with thebell; 25, an elevated Water-tank for hold- 5,0 ing water for producing a con-tinualrpressure where desired in the pipes of the sprintank and increasing or continuing the pressure in the sprinkler-pipes in case of a fire in 5 5` the vicinity of said pipes; 27, one of the pipes s* of the sprinkler system, which are provided with fusible plugs, fusibleatv a low temperature; 28, fusible plugs; 2.9, the dry-pipe valve; 30, an air-pump; 31, a pressure-gage for show- 6ov ing the degree of pressure which may be in the air-pipes; 32, the pipe fromthe tire-pum p to the dry-'pipe valve; 33, the pipe extending from the pipe 32 to the tank 25; 34, the pipe extendingfrom the dry-pipe valve to the pipe This head may be securedl ing from the pipe 34 to the larger end of the cylinders; 37, the pipe from the pipe 36 to the pressure-gage; 38, bolt's'or screws for connecting various parts together; 39, pivot-pins for connecting various parts; 40, an elbow on pipe 33; 41, an aperture through the end of the smaller cylinder leading to the fire-pum p; 42, a valve for closing communication between the fire-pump and dry-pipe valve.Y

'The particular position of the several parts as herein shown is not essential relative to each other and no claim is made to the man- Whenever the pistons fall in the cylinders, the valve 10 closes the air-admission inlet 4 and holds said valve closed, while the whistle and bell will continuetosound their alarm until an attendant raises the piston-rodV by admitting sufficient air-pressure through the by-pass 5 to raise the pistons. This by-pass is kept closed excepting when `the valve 10 is closed, when it is to be opened for admitting a pressure of air between thc lower piston and its head 2 for raising the piston-rod and stopping the alarms.` theaforesaid battery; 18, an electromagnet The air-pump shown in the drawings rep- 1 re'sents one operated by hand; but in a fireextinguishing sprinkler system a pump operrated by some convenient power, as water or steam, would be used.v thelever 2l of the bell-hammer; 22, thewires i Having described our invention, what we ,1 claim, and desi reto secure by Letters Patent, 3 i s- 1; In a tire-extinguishingsprinkler system,

ian alarm-operating mechanism comprising two cylinders of diierentA diameter,` the smaller one opening into the larger,and a head 1in the-outer end of each cylinder,a pistonyrod extending out throughV the head of the kler system; 26, a fire-pump for filling said y smaller cylinder having-avalve upon its influid between each piston and the head of its cylinder, that in the larger cylinder being l,sulicient-to normally hold the pistons at the IOO IIO

tao

67,5y l27;, 35, the pipe extending fromthe pipe 32 u Y upward Vlimit of their movement, a by-pass to the smaller cylinder; 36, the pipe extendnormally closed for opening communication between the central aperture aforesaid outside of its closing valve, and the space between the larger cylinder-head and its piston, and an alarm arranged to be sounded by the downward movement of the piston-rod,when ever the pressure under the larger piston is lessened to such a degree as to allow the piston-rod to descend, close the valve thereon and sound said alarm, and to continue sounding said alarm until an attendant opens the by-pass valve and admits sufficient pressure under the larger cylinder to raise the pistonrod and thereby stop the alarm, substantially as described. n n

2'. In a fire-extinguishing sprinkler system, an alarm-operating mechanism comprising two cylinders of different diameter, the smaller one opening into the larger, and a head in the outer end of each cylinder, a piston-rod extending out through the head of the smaller cylinder having a valve upon its inner end, a piston upon said rod for each cylinder arranged fora reciprocating movement therein, a central aperture in the larger cylluder-head adapted to be closed by the valve aforesaid and communicating with an airpressure supply, an aperture in the smaller cylinder-head communicating with the Waterpressure supply of the sprinkler system, means for producing a pressure of an elastic fluid between each piston and the head of its cylinder, that of the larger cylinder being sufficient to normally hold the pistons at the upward limit of their movement, a 1oy-pass normally closed for opening communication between the central aperture aforesaid outside of its closing valve, and the space between the larger cylinder-head and its piston, and a whistle arranged to be blown by the downward movement of the piston-rod whenever the pressure under the larger piston is lessened to such a degree as to allow the piston-rod to descend, close the valve thereon and to open the whistle-valve, and to continue the sounding of said whistle until an attendant opens the luy-pass valve and admits sufficient pressure under the larger piston to raise the piston-rod, close the Whistle-valve and thereby stop its sounding, substantially as set forth.

3. In a fire-extinguishing sprinkler system tire-alarm, the combination of two cylinders of different diameter, the smaller one opening into the larger, the smaller one havingahead integral with it, and the larger cylinder aremovable head, the piston-rod 7 extending out through the smaller head, pistons 8 and 9 having a compressible packing 8 and 9 re-l spectively, arranged fora reciprocating movement in their cylinders, the central aperture i communicating with an air-pressure sup; ply, the aperture 5 leading to said air-pressure supply, the valve 6 for closing the passage from the aperture 5 to said supply, the aperture 41 leading to the water-pressure supply of the sprinkler system, the drainage-outlet 1l, the valve 10, means for producing a pressure of an elastic fluid between the pistons 8 and 9 and the heads of their respective cylinders, that in the larger cylinder being sufficient to normally holdthe pistons at the upward limit of their movement, and an alarm arranged to be sounded by the downward movement of the piston-rod and the closure of the valve 10 whenever the pressure between the piston S and head 2 is lessened to such a degree as to allow the piston-rod to descend and close said valve, and also to continue the sounding, of said alarm until an attendant opens the valve 6 and admits sufficient pressure under the piston 8 Vto raise the pistonrod, open the valve 10 and thereby stop said alarm, substantially as described.

JOSEPH HILL. AMBROSE V. RICHARDSON.

Witnesses:

J. M. PLEAsANTs, JAMES MARX. 

